PM urges world to support low-emission countries for coping with climate change

NEW YORK (92 News) – Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has urged the developed countries to support the low-emission countries for coping with climate change and looming consequent crises. The prime minister stated while addressing a high-level event on “Environmental Stewardship in Addressing Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All” co-chaired by him and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad on sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session. “Pakistan is contributing hardly anything to green house gases. Rich countries, which are really responsible (for emissions), should help countries like Pakistan and other countries… which are not trying to compensate for the damage done by these green house gas emissions,” the prime minister said. Imran Khan informed the gathering that the forest cover in Pakistan had been among the lowest; however, his party-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province planted 1.1 billion saplings during last five years against the target of one billion to fight the climate change. PM Khan said impressed by the success of the idea, his government had targeted to plant 10 billion trees across the country which could face severe crisis in future as the glaciers contributing 80 percent of the country’s rivers were fast receding. He said Pakistan was among the top 10 countries to face the effects of the climate change and if the glaciers continued to melt with the same pace, the future of the hundreds of millions people in the region would be in danger. The premier said unfortunately, the seriousness on part of the developed countries to tackle the environmental challenges was lacking despite the fact that the phenomenon would affect both the rich as well as the poor nations. He also apprised the audience of the tourism potential in Pakistan which was home to half of the world’s highest peaks. The prime minister also lauded the leadership of Dr Mahathir Mohammad particularly his efforts to fight out the corruption from his country. On the occasion, in his address, the Malaysian prime minister highlighted his government’s efforts and achievements in the fields of environment and renewable energy. He said Malaysia had been blessed with oil and gas reserves, besides the crude oil; however, his government was giving special focus on the renewable energy. He said the production of renewable energy would be doubled by 2025 as the country was adhering to the international and environmental standards while coping with the energy needs.